Identity card photos to go digital

In future people going to their local Town Hall to get a new identity card or passport will now longer be able to take a photograph with them. The will first have to go to a photographer who will take a digital photograph and send the file to the municipal authorities.

Sat 02 Sep 2017 11:51

Speaking on VRT radio the Interior Minister Jan Jambon said "We want to digitalise the whole process. From taking the photo to putting it on the identity card”.

"This means that photographers will have to send the photos through via email. This is the only way we can be sure that the photograph that has been taken is the one that appears on the identity card”.

This is only the first step, because the photograph will be thoroughly scrintinised by staff at the Town Hall.

"The new photo will be compared with the old photo that is in the National Population Register”.

"Thank to software we can compare old photos will new ones. This means that we will be able to see with certainty that the photo that has been sent is a photograph of the person that is renewing their identity card”.

Minister Jambon hope that the new measures will help to combat identity fraud.

"Last year we had hundreds of cases of people who tried to manipulate information given on identity cards or to misuse identity cards for criminal activity and to put the blame on someone else”.
The new measure should come into force in 2019.